Amazon Prime now has 200 million shoppers in the US, up 6% from last year, according to new data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. However, that doesn’t mean there are 200 million Prime subscriptions — which go for $139 a year — since multiple people in a household can share the same membership. Amazon recently added free same-day grocery delivery for many Prime subscribers, in hopes of getting more Americans to fork over that annual fee.
Long-term unemployment in the US has risen to a postpandemic high
The number of Americans who’ve been unemployed for over 27 weeks hit 1.9 million in August.
Elon Musk’s $1 billion purchase of Tesla shares sent the stock soaring this morning — along with his personal wealth. Bloomberg’s Matt Levine calculated that the share price rise thanks to Musk’s purchase was enough to raise the total value of his stock by $17 billion.
However, as Levine also pointed out, it’s not as if Musk will realize that gain any time soon:
“If you could spend $1 billion to make yourself $17 billion richer, and then cash out that $17 billion, that would be an amazing trade and you should do it all day long. But in practice, if buying $1 billion of stock makes your stock go up by $17 billion, then selling that $17 billion of stock will make your stock go down by much more.”
More Americans are out of work longer, as employers hold back on both hiring and firing
Recurring jobless claims just hit their highest level since late 2021.
America’s homes, and the people who buy them, are getting older
A shortage of new construction is pushing buyers toward aging homes — and they’re not as affordable as they used to be.
Student loan delinquencies hovered near zero during Covid — but a spike may be coming
With payments due again, nearly 10 million borrowers could fall into default within months.
